The Reed Smith Health Industry Washington Watch blog has been updated to report on recent health policy developments, including the following:
-
Regulatory Developments. CMS
has published several major proposed rules that would update FY
2014 Medicare payment policy for acute inpatient hospitals and
long-term care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, inpatient
rehabilitation facilities, and hospices. CMS also has published
rules addressing rewards to Medicare fraud tipsters and provider
enrollment rules, along with a notice on the ACA Early Retiree
Reinsurance Program. HHS is considering HIPAA Privacy Rule
amendments to allow reporting of mental health data to the National
Instant Criminal Background Check System. The IRS has published
regulations to implement certain ACA insurance premium tax credit
and medical loss ratio provisions.
- Other HHS
Developments.
Recent CMS policy announcements have addressed Independent
Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) reductions, Quality Improvement
Organization service areas, ordering and referring denial edits,
hospital charge data, Physician Payment Sunshine Act
implementation, sequestration guidance for state surveyors and
Medicare Part C & D plans, gapfill payments for new molecular
pathology codes, draft Medicaid Federal Upper Limit files, and
potential Physician Quality Reporting System measures.
HHS has released enhanced National Standards for Culturally and
Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health Care, and it
has highlighted enforcement efforts in this area. HHS has provided
an update on the status of efforts to promote health information
technology.
-
OIG Developments. The OIG has
released an updated Provider Self-Disclosure Protocol and an
updated Special Advisory Bulletin on the Effect of Exclusion from
Participation in Federal Health Care Programs.
-
Legislative Developments.
Current legislative efforts are focusing on drug distribution
security and Medicare physician fee schedule reform, and recent
Congressional hearings and markups have addressed a number of
health policy issues.
- Health Industry Events. Upcoming events include meetings/calls on the Data.Medicare.Gov data portal, the "Sunshine Act"/National Physician Payment Transparency Program, and HCPCS code applications.
This article is presented for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice.
